


The Nutcracker's Kiss

by MyFavoriteColorisLamppost



Series: Crossovers [12]
Category: A Christmas Kiss, Days of Our Lives
Genre: Alternate Universe, Christmas, Christmas Decorations, Interior Decorating, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-19 17:07:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 19,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21904510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyFavoriteColorisLamppost/pseuds/MyFavoriteColorisLamppost
Summary: William Horton is the best designer in Chicago... but no one knows it yet. Hoping to kick-start his career, Will has left work with the local theatre to take a job as an assistant to Leo Stark, the most prestigious designer in the city. Mr. Stark works Will around the clock, which is how Will finds himself trapped in an elevator late one night with an incredibly handsome stranger. Will and the mystery man share an impulsive, romantic, life-changing kiss before the doors open and Will runs out, leaving him behind. The next day at work, Will answers the door to find the handsome gentleman standing in front of him, who turns out to be Jackson "Sonny" Kiriakis, a wealthy philanthropist - and Mr. Stark's long distance boyfriend.
Relationships: Sonny Kiriakis/Leo Stark, Will Horton/Sonny Kiriakis
Series: Crossovers [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1542751
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24
Collections: WilSon





	1. Trepak

**Author's Note:**

> Starting to feel the holiday blues, so I'm writing this to distract myself. Enjoy!

Will Horton enters the Auditorium Theatre, unable to avoid the nostalgia that hits him the second he walks inside, surrounded by dancers in costumes and the music from the Nutcracker in the background.

He gets on stage and looks out at the empty auditorium, and the nostalgia hits him again as he remembers all the times he'd done the same exact thing before, at knowing in just a few minutes, the entire theater would be looking at his sets, at the entire production come to life.

But then he gets a notification on his phone, and the moment passes, so he turns away as he checks his phone, taking care to avoid bumping into the large nutcracker as he goes backstage.

"Well, hello there, Will!" Comes the call, and sure enough, his great Grandma Caroline is right there, giving him such a big smile, Will can't help but smile back.

"Hey, Grandma Caroline."

"Are you on the design crew?" She asks.

Will's smile falls slightly as he tells her, "Sorry, not this year. I'm just too busy."

Caroline admits sadly, "That's too bad. I'm being completely truthful when I say your sets were some of the best I've seen in all my years I've been sweeping this floor."

Will blushes, "Aw, thank you. That's very sweet of you. But my career in interior design is about to really take off."

Then Will's friend Neil comes bounding over to them, telling them excitedly, "I got the job!"

Will immediately grabs to hug him, sharing his excitement, "Congratulations!"

Neil tells them, "You're officially looking at the King of Makeup and Wardrobe!"

Will pulls out his phone, "I gotta tell Chad."

Grandma Caroline notes, "I suppose I can be happy one of you is working in the show. Apparently Will's 'too busy'."

Neil doesn't think twice, "Just imagine if Shakespeare said he was too busy to write Hamlet."

Will attempts to defend himself, "It just so happens I'm about to be promoted-."

Neil finishes, "By an unreasonably demanding egomaniac."

Will corrects him, "The most talented, respected, and well connected interior designer in Chicago."

That's when Caroline decides to make her exit, "Well, congrats again, Neil.", and walks away.

Now that she's gone, Neil immediately grabs Will by the shoulders and spins him around, "Look at all of this! Are you seriously gonna tell me you don't miss it? At all?"

Will can safely admit, "Of course I do! But…" he trails off, before snapping back, "Forget it. You should be the focus right now, not me."

Will leads Neil away, right as he gets another notification, "Looks like we're going out. Chad says it's a cause for celebration."

Neil quickly asks, "Let me glam you up. Please?"

The question makes Will uncomfortable, "Nuh uh. You know I don't go for being glammed up for just a night out with friends."

Neil teases, "Since when do I care about what you do and don't go for?"

Will protests, "I don't have time!"

But Neil can see Will's already caving, so he encourages, "Come on. Relax a little, for once in your life! Let me work my Nutcracker magic on you."

Will wants to protest more, but really, Neil's right. "You're not gonna dress me up as the Sugar Plum Cavalier, are you?"

Neil shakes his head, "No, no Cavalier, promise."

But the next words have Will already regretting his decision,

"I was actually thinking of the Snow King."


	2. Kiss Me

"I'm gonna say it. He looks awesome!" Chad tells Neil as he puts the finishing touches on the makeup on Will's face.

At that, Will requests, "Let me see."

Neil complies, and once he has the mirror showing his face for him to display, his only comment is,

"No, I'M gonna say it. Lady Gaga does not wear this much makeup."

Neil beams, "A true masterpiece."

Will can't help but say, "I look almost nuclear!"

Neil tells him, "It's from NYX. White eyeshadow."

Which only serves to make Will feel bad, "Neil, tonight was supposed to be about you."

Neil attempts to pull him out of it, "Hey, come on. What happened to the old spontaneous Will? You never let yourself have any fun anymore."

Will's still not sold, "I don't know about this."

Chad protests, "Will, come on! Live a little!"

Neil wholeheartedly agrees, "Exactly. You're completely unrecognizable. If you can't be spontaneous now, when will you?"

Finally, Will has to admit that's a good point, "Okay, fine. I'll go with it." He agrees, as Neil keeps working on Will's face. "Tonight could wind up being magical."

Chad reminds them, "Alright, it's almost time for drinks!"

But right then, Will's phone goes off, and when he reaches for it, Neil scolds him, "Do not answer that."

Will reaches for it anyway, reminding them, "I have to."

Chad agrees with Neil, "You're not on the clock, and it's Saturday night."

Will ignores this, answering it as he says, "Hello, Mr. Stark."

He's momentarily distracted by the dirty looks both Chad and Neil are giving him, but he recovers and answers, "Yes. Yes, of course I can do that." Pause. "I'll take care of that right away. Bye."

Once he hangs up, he turns back to Neil and Chad, immediately apologetic,

"His flight's been delayed. I just need to go over to his apartment to turn the heat and turn on a few lights."

Neil rolls his eyes, not buying it, "Yeah, sure. I swear, the guy just makes stuff up for the sake of torturing you."

Chad nods in agreement, but Will insists, "I'm really sorry, but I have to go."

Then he turns to go, "I'll meet up with you two later."

But Neil stops him, "Not so fast! Let me finish my masterpiece first!"

It's almost a half hour later before Neil finally lets him go, and as Will unlocks Mr. Stark's penthouse apartment, he can't help but be impressed by both the decor and the apartment itself.

He makes quick work of turning on the lights and the heat, but once he reaches the bedroom with the big window with the gorgeous view of the city, he can't help but stop to take it all in.

It's all so classy, so perfectly matched. This is an apartment Will could only dream of having one day. As he keeps walking around the apartment, he stops at Mr. Stark's office space, and before he can think twice, he sits down in the chair, picks up the phone, pretending to answer it,

"Hi, Will Horton." Pause. "Absolutely. I'd love to decorate your beach house in the Cape."

Then he hangs up, and honestly? He can't really bring himself to be embarrassed. Why should he? Thanks to this job, it could very well become a reality sooner than he thinks.

Now that he's finished, he quickly exits the apartment and walks back to the elevator, until it finally reaches the floor he's on, and he quickly hits the button for the ground floor.

It's quiet for a few moments, when suddenly, the whole elevator jolts, and Will panics for a second, before he realizes the elevator is still moving.

Then it stops again, this time opening to allow a very handsome guy to get on.

They don't say anything for a few moments, mostly because Will can't stop taking another look at him, with his gorgeous dark hair and dark eyes.

Finally, the guy decides to let him off the hook, looking at his ensemble as he asks, "Let me guess. The Cavalier?"

Will shakes his head, "Snow King."

The guy winces, "Snow King. Should've guessed." Then, "Does that mean you're in the ballet?"

Will's not entirely sure why the guy keeps talking to him, but he can't deny he doesn't mind it all that much. "Not quite."

The guy nods, "Okay then." Then he asks, "Then what's the occasion?"

Will tells him, "Just a night out with my friends."

Suddenly, the elevator jolts again, this time causing Will to stumble into the guy's arms, and when it doesn't stop, the panic Will felt earlier returns at the realization that the elevator is falling, and most likely he's gonna die here, in the arms of a guy he doesn't even know.

Will keeps looking around, noting out loud, "This is wrong."

But the guy, amazingly, disagrees, "Actually it feels kinda nice."

They look at each other for a moment, sharing a smile, right when the lights in the elevator go out, covering them in darkness.

Will clutches the guy tighter, as the elevator keeps jolting, not sure what else to do, and the guy just keeps looking at him.

It almost doesn't register when the guy kisses him, and when it does, all Will can think to do is kiss back.

For a moment, it's like nothing else exists. The elevator isn't falling, Will's not late to meet his friends, and whoever this guy is doesn't matter.

The kiss might as well be the only thing that's currently in existence, and as far as Will is concerned, the only kiss in his life that truly matters.


	3. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

It feels like the kiss goes on forever, but in reality could've only been a few heartstopping seconds, and before they know it, the lights are back on, and they've reached the ground floor, and the elevator door is opening, and carolers are trying to get on, which finally, finally brings them back to reality.

Will's still dizzy from both the kiss and the carolers, so once he finally manages to come back to reality, he takes the first opportunity he gets to take off, out of the elevator, and right out of the building, not daring to look back.

In fact, he's so desperate to get out of there, he doesn't see the guy try to chase him down.

When he finally meets up with Neil and Chad, he's still recovering as he tells them, 

"You two are not gonna believe what just happened to me."

Neil takes notice, telling him, "Whoa, there, Will. Why so flushed?"

Chad agrees, "You're almost beaming, and it's definitely not just the eyeshadow."

Will decides to fill them in, "So I was in the elevator when this guy got on. And I'm talking super gorgeous. Suddenly the elevator starts falling, I honest to God thought I was gonna die, and completely out of nowhere, he kisses me!"

Neil doesn't believe it, "He did not."

Will stops him, "Oh, yes, he absolutely did. And even better, I kissed back."

Both Neil and Chad have to laugh, "There's no way that's true!"

Will can't stop gushing over it, "Put it this way: years from now, when I'm an old man on my deathbed bed fighting to breathe, that kiss is going to be the last thing on my mind."

When neither Neil or Chad say anything, Will goes on, 

"That's not even the best part. We had a spark. I don't think I've ever had a spark before, but I know for a fact that we most definitely had a spark."

Neil sips his drink, "Please tell me you got his name or number somewhere in the middle of all this."

Will admits sadly, "None of the above."

Chad can't believe it, "Are you serious?"

Neil agrees, "Tell me you're kidding."

Will repeats, "No." Then, at the expectant looks from the both of them, he tells them,

"A bunch of carolers were waiting to get on, and it just got crazy. I had to get the hell out of there."

"But you know what?" Will tells them, still optimistic, "You two told me to be spontaneous, I did, and it was amazing."

Chad jokes, "Who is this mystery guy, anyway?"

That makes them all laugh, before Will says, "Who cares? If we're really meant to be together, I have no doubt I'll run into him again. Or maybe he'll run into me."

They all smile as some people enter the bar, giving the three of them a once over, before Will changes his tune, "Who am I trying to fool here? I'm never gonna see him again, am I?" 

But Neil's not about to let Will go down that line of thinking, "Yes, you will. I know you will. And regardless, it's really good to see the old you back from the dead."

Then Neil picks up his drink again to raise it in a toast, "And the night is still young. Cheers!"

With that, both Will and Chad raise their own drinks to toast.

The next morning, Will's phone goes off, waking him up, and answers, "Hello?"

Upon hearing the voice, he immediately sits up, "Hello, Mr. Stark." A pause. "Yes, of course. I'll be right there."

Then he hangs up, before getting up so he can rush right over to Mr. Stark's penthouse.

The second Will approaches the front door, it swings open and Mr. Stark rushes him inside,

"We don't have a lot of time."

Will tries to ask, "How was your trip?", but Mr. Stark isn't interested in making pleasantries,

"Forget that. We have an emergency to work on."

Will asks, as they both walk around the apartment, "An emergency? What's wrong?"

Mr. Stark tells him, "I have a very important lunch date with Jackson."

Will recognizes the name immediately, "Your traveling boyfriend is in town?"

Mr. Stark confirms, "For the entire holiday season, which I fully intend to use to close the deal on the engagement."

Will, ready for anything, asks, "So where do I factor in here?"

Mr. Stark instructs, "It's Derrick's day off, and I need you to replace him."

Will has to ask, "I thought Derrick was your housekeeper."

Mr. Stark snaps, "Derrick is my employee, just like you." Then he slaps a piece of paper on the counter as he orders, "The champagne absolutely must be Jacques Selosse Initial. Any substitute will be promptly dumped down the sink."

As he grabs his jacket, Mr. Stark notices something, "What the hell is that on your face?"

Will reaches up to touch it, and once he sees what it is, he quickly explains, "Just some NYX white eyeshadow. Neil got me all dolled up for a night on the town."

Mr. Stark's only comment is to say, "You'd better hope none of my friends recognized you."

Will's quick to assure him, "I didn't even recognize me."

But Mr. Stark's not listening anymore, just walks past Will as he demands, "Get that crap off. It has no place in my apartment."

When he reaches the front door, he tells Will,

"I will be at the spa at the Drake attempting to relax."

Then he leaves, closing the door behind him, while Will looks over the entire list, sighing once he sees just how many things are on it.

"And just like that, my days of spontaneity are over."

The rest of the day goes by quickly as Will sets out to complete each task, from buying candles for the bathroom and lighting them, to making Mr. Stark's bed, to making a flower arrangement, to getting the table set with the requested champagne.

Before Will knows it, Mr. Stark has returned to the apartment, as Will tells him,

"All your instructions have been followed to the letter."

Mr. Stark looks around to double check, and upon finding nothing to criticize, he tells Will, "Looks like you can follow instructions. Well done."

That almost makes up for the very tedious day, if Mr. Stark hadn't followed it up with, "Now get the hell out before Jackson shows up. You're a hot mess."

Because Will really needs this job, all he does is smile and walk away, grabbing his jacket and heading straight for the front door.

As Will opens the door, that's right when the man himself shows up at the exact same time, only for Will to find himself staring back at the gorgeous guy from the night before.


	4. Thank God It's Not Christmas

For a moment, Will's frozen, unable to move or think, because he swears this only happens in fairy tales, not real life, and yet it's happening to him right now.

"Hi. How did you know-." Will starts to ask, but the guy just reaches out a hand and says, "I'm Sonny.", right as Mr. Stark calls out behind them,

"Jackson! You're early!"

At that, Will feels like someone let the air out of his lungs, as Jackson, or "Sonny", as he called himself, walks into the apartment with a bouquet of flowers, saying,

"I know. Just couldn't wait to see you again.", as he greets Mr. Stark with a kiss.

Mr. Stark pulls away first, "Before I forget, I want to introduce you to my incredible assistant, Will."

When Sonny turns in his direction, the smile is completely friendly, but there's no recognition in is eyes anywhere, "Nice to meet you."

"And he was just leaving." Mr. Stark tells them both as he all but shoves Will out the door, and Will can barely get out one last, "Nice to meet you!" Before he slams the door in Will's face.

Then he grabs the flowers in Sonny's hand, praising them, "Beautiful. They're a perfect match for my bedspread. Wanna compare?"

Sonny, however, has other ideas, grabbing Leo's hand as he says, "Not before I say an official hello to my boyfriend.", then kisses him.

Only, the longer they kiss, the more off it feels, and even Leo can sense it, pulling away to ask, "What's wrong?"

But Sonny doesn't want to make Leo worry, so he just shakes it off, "Nothing.", then gives Leo one more peck. "Probably just tired from all the traveling I've been doing."

Leo completely understands, "Oh, I can imagine. Month after month of jet setting, a city here and a city there, it's a miracle you're still vertical.

Sonny goes to sit down on a chair, admitting, "You got that right. It's really good to be back in Chicago. Especially now during the holidays."

Leo takes a seat across from him, as he reminds him, "Well I'm hoping it'll be the push you need to start focusing on your future, and make the necessary arrangements."

Sonny thinks on that for a moment, before saying, "Actually, I do have a proposal."

Leo immediately jumps at it, "Yes!"

But Sonny's too smart to not know what Leo's thinking, "Don't say yes before I even tell you what it is!"

Leo doesn't listen, "Whatever it is, my answer is yes."

Sonny decides to just tell him, "What I'm wanting to know is if you'll be willing to decorate the Kiriakis mansion for a Christmas party."

That finally pulls Leo out of his misplaced excitement, as Sonny explains what it's for.

"The Titan Foundation is sponsoring the city's ballet for the Nutcracker, and I wanna throw a little cocktail party for all the sponsors and donors before the performance opening night."

Now that he's had a chance to mask his disappointment, Leo's quick to say,

"Absolutely. I would be honored to be the one to decorate your house for Christmas.", and stands up to kiss Sonny again.

Will's sitting at a table by the window at the local coffee shop Common Grounds, sad over this new development when Chad comes up to both him and Neil with their coffee, and even he can see something's wrong.

"Whoa. Why the long face?"

Neil films him in, "Will ran into the elevator guy again."

This confuses Chad, as he asks, "I thought that was a good thing."

Will finishes for Neil, "If I lived in a world where he's not Mr. Stark's boyfriend, it would be."

Chad's face immediately falls, "Oh no. You're kidding."

Will goes on, "That's not even the worst of it. He didn't even recognize me. At all. Not even one small hint."

Chad reminds him, trying to help him feel better, "Don't forget, you were incognito."

Neil agrees, "Exactly. You're absolutely sure he didn't recognize you at all? Could be he did, but because he's sleeping with your boss, he didn't want to say anything in front of him."

Chad chimes in, "If it were me, I'd tell him the truth. You said you felt a spark, which means he most likely did too!"

Will has to point out the flaw in that logic, "What am I supposed to say? 'Hi, Sonny, I'm the guy you kissed in the elevator that you don't recognize, and oh, by the way, I work for your future husband."

Then Will gets a little pissed, "And anyway, how does he have the nerve to not recognize me? Eyeshadow or not, I'm still Will Horton. He should be able to figure that out."

Neil tells him, "He's a gay guy. If a straight guy couldn't figure it out, gay guys are completely hopeless. You basically need to grab them by the shoulders and yell in their faces."

But Will's already shaking his head, ready to move on, "No, what I really need to do is put all of my focus on my job. Forget about the spark, the kiss, and especially him."

Neil teases, "Good luck with that one."

Will reasons, "He's out of town all the time! I probably won't even bump into him again."

Chad can't let it go, "You really should tell him. You don't just ignore sparks when they pop up! What if he winds up being the one?"

Will chastises him, "Chad, this is not one of your cheesy scripts. It's my life."

Then Will turns his attention back to the coffee, picking it up as he says, "This spark has officially been signed, sealed, and snuffed."


	5. A Wish Comes True Everyday

Back at the penthouse, over the dinner table, Leo's all too eager to remind Sonny,

"Please don't forget that now that you're back, we really, really need to get both of our social calendars synced up, because there's so many events that we absolutely can not afford to miss out on."

Sonny shakes his head, "I was kind of hoping we could just relax. You know, just enjoying being home in Chicago during Christmas."

Leo sips his champagne before responding, "We can still do that by having dinner with the Evanses and the new gallery opening on Milwaukee avenue. And we absolutely can't miss Kate Roberts' birthday party. Pretty please?"

Sonny begs, "All I've been doing is traveling and schmoozing for months. Can't we just focus on the Titan Foundation's party for the ballet? Please?"

But Leo's not budging, "No, absolutely not. I'm pushing this for your career's sake as well as mine."

Seeing he's not getting anywhere, Sonny tries a different tactic, "Remember when we took that trip to Dubai? Where we skipped the dinner to walk along the beach to watch the sunset?"

Leo confirms, "Of course I remember." But then he follows it up with, "I remember ruining my new designer pants I'd bought specifically for that dinner."

Sonny sips his drink, disappointed, "That's all he remembers."

But Leo's quick to tell him, "No it's not. I'm just starting to get worried because it's been forever since we've been seen together as a couple. And we're an incredible couple! We'd practically be depriving the public if we didn't show that off."

Finally, Sonny gives in, disappointed, "Alright, you win. We'll go. Guess I was just hoping for a more old fashioned Christmas this year. That's all."

Leo's quick to assure him, "We're gonna have an awesome Christmas!"

Sonny agrees, trying to convince himself as much as Leo, "Yeah, I'm sure you're right."

Elsewhere, Will, Neil and Chad are just goofing off and dancing around Will's apartment when Will's phone rings, and immediately, Will stops to grab it.

"Hello, Mr. Stark."

There's a pause, then, "Yes, of course. I'll be right there." Pause. "Uh huh." Then he hangs up.

Neil's quick to ask, "You'll 'be right there'? What could possibly be so important at 7 at night that absolutely can't wait till tomorrow?"

Will snaps back, still exhausted from all the dancing, "You think I want to? I don't have a choice if I want to keep my job."

Then he walks away, "I'll catch up with you two later."

Once Will reaches Mr. Stark's penthouse, Mr. Stark wastes no time filling Will in,

"I received a proposal from Jackson earlier today."

At that, Will can't help the punch to the gut he feels, but he quickly squashes it down and just says, "Congratulations. When's the big day?"

Mr. Stark's quick to deny it, "No, not a marriage proposal. Not yet anyway. He asked me to decorate his family's mansion for a Christmas party. We'll be meeting him there tomorrow morning bright and early to discuss ideas. What I need you to do is being a basket of pastries and coffee."

When he sees Will just sitting there, he snaps, "Why aren't you writing this down?", then continues, "Sonny drinks yak butter tea, and you know how I take mine."

Will obediently writes it all down, before realizing he can't keep quiet, "Why do I even have to be there?"

Mr. Stark reminds him like Will's hard of hearing, "Because I'm decorating his family's mansion for a Christmas party."

Will tries to cover for himself, unable to stop rambling, "What about your other clients? I feel like I should really be focusing on them instead. There's a lot of new clients that I really think-."

Mr. Stark cuts him off, not interested, "Jackson's party is top priority. We're going to eat, sleep, and breathe it. All other projects are on hold until it's finished."

Will tries to reason with Mr. Stark, "But we can't do that!"

Leo is firm, "This is going to be one of the biggest events in Chicago. All the top sponsors and donors for the theater will be there."

This is news to Will, so he asks, intrigued, "Really? Why's that?"

Leo replies, bored, "Because Jackson's family runs the Titan Foundation, which funds theater and art programs all over the globe. That's why he's always out of town. This party's in honor of the Nutcracker ballet's opening night. God, don't you ever read?"

Which only serves to make Will even more upset. Ordinarily, Will would be jumping at the chance to decorate for a party like that. But because it's for Sonny, Will has to protest,

"But that just brings me back to my original question. What do you need me for? We're so swamped already!"

Leo demands, now getting pissed, "What the hell's your problem?"

Will stays silent, knowing if he tells the truth, he'd be in even more trouble than he feels like he already is.

Leo's quick to remind him, "If you have something against working with my future husband, all it takes is a snap of my fingers to replace you."

That's all the motivation Will needs to keep quiet, "No. No problem at all. It's completely doable."

Satisfied, Leo finishes off his glass of wine, "Get to it, then."


	6. This Christmas

Once he's dismissed, Will quickly puts on his jacket and heads for the elevator once again, only to be once again in a very similar situation when Sonny gets on with him.

If this were a cheesy movie, this would be the perfect moment where Sonny would suddenly recognize him and they'd kiss again and live happily ever after.

But Will's not that lucky, so once Sonny presses the button that closes the door, he gives a polite nod in Will's direction and just says, "Hello."

But then there is a small hint of recognition in Sonny's eyes, "Oh hey. You're Will, aren't you?"

Will smiles, completely friendly as he replies, "Yes. Good evening, Mr. Kiriakis."

Sonny's quick to amend, "Please, call me Sonny. You just coming from Leo's?"

Will nods, "Yep." That really should be it, but then he finds himself speaking again, "I hear Mr. Stark is decorating your family's mansion for a party the night of the Nutcracker ballet's opening night."

Sonny confirms, "That's right. So I guess that means both of you will be, huh?"

Will agrees, "Yeah, guess so."

Will should really just leave it at that, but before he can stop himself, he's speaking again, "One of my roommates does make-up and wardrobe for the Nutcracker."

Sonny's eyes light up with interest, "Oh really?"

Will tells him, "Yeah. Theater's kind of my backstory."

Sonny jokes, "Feels like it's my only story, but unfortunately nowadays any talk about theater only ever revolves around finances."

Will goes on, "I did summer stock over on Old Town. That's where I designed my first set, for Romeo and Juliet."

Sonny's eyes light up again, and Will thinks he just might fall in love if he's not careful, as Sonny says, "I love Romeo and Juliet."

As the elevator door opens, Will quotes, "Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night."

Sonny smiles, "Yeah, exactly."

When they see someone's waiting for them to get off, Will quickly says, "Merry Christmas." and gets off first, only to have Sonny follow him out, even holding the door open.

"Thank you." Will's quick to say, as he goes in one direction, Sonny the other, before they both realize their mistake and then back around.

"Uh…" Will starts, right as Sonny says at the same time, "I'm actually supposed to be going that way."

Neither of them are sure why, but they both know that can't just leave without saying something, so Sonny takes the lead, "If we do meet again, why, we shall smile."

Will smiles as he finishes, "If not, why then, this parting was well made."

Sonny's impressed, "So you really do know Shakespeare." Then he asks, only curious, "Why'd you ever walk away?"

Will really doesn't like talking about it, but Sonny's been nothing but nice to him, so he's okay with telling him the truth,

"Oh, you know. Real world pressure. An opportunity to start a real career."

Sonny nods in understanding, "And that's how you wound up working for Leo."

Will confirms, glad he doesn't have to say it, "Actually yes."

Sonny's impressed, "Smart choice."

They don't say anything for a moment, before deciding they've been just standing there long enough, and Sonny breaks the silence first,

"Goodnight, Will."

Will responds in kind, "Goodnight, Sonny."

And with that, they turn to walk away again, but Sonny can't help but look back at Will one more time, not entirely sure why, before he continues on his way.

And right as he does, Will does the same thing, wishing more than anything he could tell Sonny the truth, yet knowing he can't.

Wistfully, Will turns to go, trying his best to push all the sadness to the side.

"Jesus, I can't do this. I'm gonna be working in his family's mansion, not to mention actually talking to him almost every day and knowing I know about the kiss while he's still in the dark! It's gotta be a special circle of Hell designed just for me."

Will tells Neil and Chad as he pulls some ice cream out of the freezer and sets them down in the table.

Neil grabs one of them, as he says, "I still say it's fate. It's Christmastime, when there's supposed to be magic in the air, and now it's bringing you two together."

Chad completely disagrees, "No way. What this really is is a golden opportunity. You've been slaving away as Leo Stark's assistant because you knew one day it would all pay off, and now it's right in front of you. You're literally going to be bumping elbows with literally anyone worth knowing in the Chicago theater world."

Will can't believe he never thought about that, "Oh my God, you're absolutely right. I really should be taking full advantage of this."

Neil can't let it go, "I'm gonna call it fate till the end of time. Hello? You saw him in the elevator again!"

But Will's refusing to entertain the idea, "I really, really can't think about that. Or him. What I really need to do is show up tomorrow morning with a basket of pastries as requested, with a can-do attitude, and the absolute determination to make the best out of the situation."

Neil tries one last time, "Can't fight fate."

Then Chad reaches behind him to grab something off their decorated tree, revealing a nutcracker ornament as he puts it on the table and tells Will, "You know, if he keeps insisting on staying in the dark, I'd just crack his nuts."

Will, however, isn't thinking about that at all, "Actually, you just gave me a really good idea. I'm gonna put this in the basket of pastries."

And so it is the very next morning, Will is walking up to the Kiriakis mansion, basket in hand, ready for the day ahead of him.


	7. Overture

Will raises his hand to knock, but before he can, the door's already being opened by Sonny, who eagerly welcomes him inside,

"Good morning, Will."

Will greets him just as warmly, "Morning, Sonny."

Sonny informs Will, as he closes the door behind them, "Leo's not here quite yet. Please come in."

Will, however, is more distracted by the mansion he just stepped into, "Your family's mansion is incredible."

Sonny replies, "Thank you.", which prompts Will to hand over the basket in his hands,

"This little assortment is for you. Pastries and yak butter tea, per Mr. Stark's instructions."

Sonny takes it, "Thank you so much.", then goes to set it down on the dining room table, Will not too far behind, right as Sonny picks up the little surprise in the basket.

"A Nutcracker. Nice touch."

Will smiles, "Knew you'd like it. My roommate is working on the Nutcracker."

Sonny nods, "Right, I remember you telling me. Very thoughtful of you."

Then Sonny picks up his drink to take a sip, only to set it back down again, surprised, "Wow. That is seriously delicious. Where did you get it?"

Will tells him, "The entire basket as well as that tea is from Common Grounds. My other roommate, Chad, the actor, he works there."

Then Will points to the library, asking, "May I?"

Sonny gestures in permission, "Go right ahead."

Will says nothing as he take a peek at some of the books, not surprised at all when he sees the titles.

"A complete collection of Shakespeare?" 

Sonny confirms behind him as he follows Will, "That's right. And they've been well loved, believe me."

But then Will sees something that easily trumps that, and he has to know, "Please tell me that's what I think it is."

Sonny steps up to the display case, opening the door to take it out, as he explains, "A Christmas Carol. First edition.", then hands it to Will, who can't stop marveling at it as he tells Sonny,

"A Christmas Carol is actually the first Broadway show I ever saw. My parents took me when I was a junior in high school."

Sonny explains, "My aunt Maggie gave me that book. It's my most prized possession."

Will is completely sincere as he says, "It's really beautiful."

They smile for a moment, but then the moment is broken when the front door opens again, and they hear Leo call out, "Hello!" which prompts Sonny to walk out of the room to meet him, and once Leo's in sight, the first thing Leo does is plant a kiss on Sonny's lips in greeting. "Hey, babe."

Seeing Sonny is otherwise occupied, Will takes it upon himself to put the book back, then greet Leo, "Good morning, Mr. Stark."

Sonny's quick to say, "Thank you for the basket.", and Leo quickly responds, "You're welcome.", before turning to both Will and Sonny as he asks, "So, do you have any design ideas for the party?"

Sonny shakes his head, "Nothing that immediately comes to mind. But you know how much Christmas means to me. Haven't been home for the holidays in a few years now, so I really want it to be unforgettable."

Leo chimes in, "And a real showstopper!"

Sonny says, "With you pulling the reins, I have no doubt you'll make it happen.", then looks around the room one last time before finishing his thought, "Whatever you can do to bring back the magic of Christmas into this place."

Which reminds Leo, "Will, start taking photos of the entire first floor, take down the measurements, and make note of every piece of furniture and accessory you can. You know what to do."

Will gets right to it, "That I do.", and immediately moves to grab the measuring tape, while Leo offers, "Son, let's share some breakfast, shall we?", and leads them back to the table, and once they've both sat down, Leo moves into the next topic,

"Now on top of all the sponsors and donors, there's a few people I think we should invite to this party."

In the background, Will stretches out the measuring tape to measure one side of a room, accidentally bumping into the piano by accident.

Sonny's only slightly distracted by this, as he tries to remind Leo, "Please remember that the sponsors and donors are top priority."

Leo agrees, "Of course they are!"

Leo goes on to say something else, but Sonny's focus is once again pulled towards Will, who's now measuring the doorway, and finally, Sonny has to intervene, if for no other reason than to spare him from talking about Leo's plans for his party for another second,

"Will, would you care to join us?"

Will, knowing his place, declines, "No, I'm fine. I still have so many measurements. Not even close to being done."

Leo wastes no time reiterating, "Exactly. He's not done."

But Sonny has other ideas, "I think photos and measurements can wait for the time being."

When Will still doesn't move, Sonny pushes, "Will, please. I insist you join us."

Seeing Sonny's not going to let up, Leo begrudgingly picks up the basket to hold it out to Will, and says, "Croissant?"

Taking it as the order it was, Will grabs one and takes a bite, and once he gets another dirty look from Mr. Stark, Will gestures vaguely away from him, "Okay, back to work.", and walks away, snapping as many photos as he can, while Sonny watches him from the corner of his eyes, smiling.

Later, when Will and Mr. Stark are back at Mr. Stark's penthouse, Will feels like he should point out,

"Did you know he has a first edition copy of A Christmas Carol?"

Leo doesn't get why he'd even bring it up, "Of course I do."

Will goes on, "What about using that as inspiration for the theme of the party?"

Mr. Stark has no problem telling Will what he thinks about that idea, "Hell no. That is so trite. Everybody and their mother has already done it 100 times over."

Will tries to get Leo on board, "But the book actually means something personal to Mr. Kiriakis."

Mr. Stark reminds Will, "This party isn't about personal touches, Will. It's about impressing Sonny's guests that are attending. That's most important to both me and him."

Will tries a different tactic, "But if you're really hoping to have it also serves as your engagement party, isn't it good to have personal touches?"

Mr. Stark, however, doesn't agree at all, "Absolutely not. Both me and Sonny have no reason to waste time on sentiments and personal touches." Then he changes the subject, "Now find me a damn good ice sculptor and some frosted trees. Make sure the samples are printed out in color only!"

Will starts to flip through Mr. Stark's Rolodex right away, but finds himself asking, "So, how did you two meet anyway?"

At this, Mr. Stark smiles, as he tells him proudly, "Fundraiser over in Old Town. I knew he was gonna be there, so I had a mutual acquaintance introduce us."

Will can't believe it. He knows Leo's cutthroat attitude better than anyone, but this? "You knew you wanted him to be your boyfriend before you'd ever even met face to face? Isn't that kind of…"

"Cunning?" Mr. Stark finishes, still smiling, which Will can now see is from pride. "Yeah, it absolutely was. I knew he existed, and that he'd yet to be snatched up. It was his family name and his lifestyle that attracted me to him, which naturally is completely compatible with mine."

Will will later call this a moment of complete insanity with what he says next, "Do you love him at all?"

But thankfully, Mr. Stark doesn't take offense, "Of course I do. He's gorgeous, endearing ridiculously smart, cultivated. Comes from a family with old money. We're both equal in attractiveness, goals, wishes and connections. We couldn't fit together better if we tried."

The more Will listens, the more he finds himself agreeing, "Perfect couple."

Mr. Stark pauses for a moment, before finishing, "Exactly. The perfect couple. And that's why I have absolutely no doubt this party is going to double as my engagement party. Come New Year's, I'll be throwing a wedding the likes of which nobody's ever seen. And you'll be helping me every step of the way, naturally."

The thought alone makes Will want to cringe, but he manages to hold his tongue.

That night, as he's still sitting up in bed, he can't stop thinking about his design idea.

He picks up a pencil and starts drawing, then another, and before long, the design in his head is spilling out onto the pages, and when he finally manages to step away and really look at them, his hands start to feel warm.

This is it. This is the design that's going to blow both Sonny and Leo away. It's got all the sentimentality Sonny's after, while still being classy.

Satisfied, Will turns off the light and finally falls asleep, with a real smile on his face.


	8. El Anillo

It's a very confused Sonny that finds himself sitting in the audience of the Auditorium Theatre, turning over the ring box in his hand, when Caroline Brady sees him and calls out,

"Mr. Kiriakis?"

Sonny greets her, "Nice to see you, Grandma Caroline.", using the nickname she all but insists he use for her despite not being related.

Caroline asks, only curious, "What brings you here?"

Sonny shrugs, "Nothing, I suppose. Maybe I'm just feeling a little nostalgic."

Caroline is quick to assure him, "Well, believe me, we all couldn't be happier to have you back in Chicago."

That gets a genuine smile from Sonny, who says, "Thank you for that, Grandma Caroline. Truthfully, airports are slowly losing their appeal. Never been big on flying, anyway."

Caroline jokes, "Well, just my commute to and from work is all the travel I've ever really needed in my old age."

Then Sonny decides she's the perfect person to confide in. Maybe she'll have some insight on the subject.

"Tell me something. How do you know when you've found the one?"

Even Caroline can tell Sonny's serious, so she moves closer to sit down, before she tells him,

"When I first opened my pub in my hometown, there were these two customers, Robert and James. They ran a little specialty shop next to the old fish market called "gifts from the sea." There were some silly gifts, and there were some nice gifts too. They were among our first customers-- dark ale with a shot chaser. And then they had this thing. They would--they would pour each other's beer, and then they would toast for getting through another day at the docks. Robert could spin a yarn. He was Irish, of course, you know--a touch of blarney. And James could have finished every sentence, 'cause he'd heard it all before. But he would laugh. And that laugh would just fill the pub. They were two men in love, and from a lifetime of watching them finishing each other's sentences, I knew they were it for each other in a way they could never find it in their hearts to admit to themselves."

She pauses here, at seeing the box Sonny's holding, and asks carefully, "Am I safe to assume you're thinking about making that same leap of faith?"

Sonny nods, "I'm thinking, to say the least."

Caroline knows he doesn't need a reminder, but she still says, "Well, if you've already bought the ring, you're doing a lot more than just thinking."

Because it's Caroline, Sonny has no qualms about admitting, "Well, I was completely convinced when I first bought it. But something about being back in Chicago, I've found myself…"

Caroline finishes, "All tied up in knots when you should be feeling butterflies?"

That manages to leave Sonny more confused, "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

Caroline explains patiently, "If you're tied up in knots, it could mean your gut is telling you to stop and think. But if you're feeling butterflies, and you're actually excited about what you're planning to do, then that's a pretty good indicator he's the one."

That makes sense, but it only serves to prompt Sonny to ask a follow up question, "What if you're feeling both? And the knots in question are stemming from guilt over a completely out of nowhere kiss in the elevator, which got confused for butterflies?"

Caroline laughs, "I'd say good luck to you, Mr. Kiriakis.", which makes Sonny laugh.

"Thanks, Grandma Caroline."

Then Caroline has to get back to work, so she just pats him on the shoulder and walks away, leaving Sonny to think about what she said, looking at the ring one more time before closing the box again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: the story Caroline tells Sonny is taken from her speech at Will and Sonny's wedding.


	9. Under My Tree

The next morning, when Will shows up for work, he could burst from excitement from what he has to show Mr. Stark.

Even when Mr. Stark opens the door to inform him, "You're five minutes late.", he doesn't even apologise, instead he eagerly tells Mr. Stark,

"Believe me when I say all will be forgiven when I show you my designs."

Mr. Stark has no idea what he's talking about, "_ Your _ designs?"

Will can't stop himself from telling Mr. Stark everything, "I was just so inspired by going over to the Kiriakis mansion and seeing his amazing book collection, I found myself coming up with the perfect holiday design plan. I was up all night making it."

Mr. Stark's not happy about this one bit, but Will refuses to let that away him, as he shows Mr. Stark his drawings, "They're a little rough, but they're mostly conceptual."

Mr. Stark picks one up, looking at what has to be a sketch the mantel and what appears to be holly hanging off of it, along with a miniature sleigh, before he says, 

"Jesus. These are all absolutely…"

Will's so excited, he's completely unprepared for what Mr. Stark says next.

"Abhorrent. What the hell possessed you to think this would even come close to what Jackson wants?"

Will reminds him, refusing to let Mr. Stark deflate him, "His first edition of A Christmas Carol."

Mr. Stark snaps, "Well I own Of Mice and Men. Doesn't mean I want to go live in the sticks on a farm."

That finally manages to let some of the wind out of Will's sail, but Mr. Stark's not even close to finished, "You have completely disappointed me, Will.", as he looks at another sketch with trees on it, "And apparently one Christmas tree isn't enough, there has to be three? Real ones, no less? Complete waste of time on top of a mess. No thank you."

Will's quick to tell him, "One would be decorated like Christmas Past, one like Christmas Present, and Christmas Future."

Mr. Stark isn't even close to caving, so Will keeps going, thinking he has nothing to lose, "And here's the kicker: I thought for Christmas Future, we could have the ornaments made by the children from one of the art classes funded by the Titan Foundation."

If anything, that seems to make Mr. Stark dig his heels in deeper, "You're kidding, right? Please tell me that was a joke. This is supposed to be a cocktail party, not some kid's birthday party."

Will tries again, "Aren't kids the future?"

Mr. Stark admonishes him, "They are not. Especially not in mine and Jackson's."

Then he tosses the papers back on the table, "These designs are utter trash, Will. In fact, you know what I'm gonna do?", as he grabs a folder and opens it, "I'm just gonna stash these under my designs, and pretend you didn't just waste the last few minutes showing me them."

That hurts, so much so Will can't let it slide, "I'm damn proud of those designs."

As Mr. Stark finishes putting them away, putting his own binder on top of the other as he tells Will, "You have no reason to be." right as they both hear the knock on the door.

Mr. Stark goes towards the door, right as Sonny opens it, and once they meet in the middle, they kiss, before Mr. Stark tells him, "Come look at my designs, tell me what you think. I was up all night working on them."

Sonny follows Mr. Stark to the table, where Will's still recovering from Mr. Stark's harsh words, and greets him politely, "Morning, Will.", then starts flipping through the photos in Mr. Stark's folder.

It only takes about 15 seconds for him to look at them all, before he says,

"First, let me just say you're still as talented as ever. These are amazing.", as Sonny gestures to the pictures.

Mr. Stark smiles at having been proven right, "Well, thank you. It's what I do."

But it's short lived, as Sonny follows it up by saying, "Now, having said that, I need to be honest."

Mr. Stark doesn't get why Sonny would say it like that, but still says, "Of course. Go right ahead."

Sonny doesn't hold back, "As beautiful as these are, it's just not the direction I was hoping to go in for this party. I was really wanting to go the more traditional route."

Will looks away, hiding a smile at seeing Mr. Stark knocked down.

Which is why he's not prepared in the slightest when he hears Mr. Stark say,

"Well, that's good, because I actually came up with another one to give you a choice."

That makes Will look up, and sure enough, Mr. Stark's taking his drawings out of the binder and showing them to Sonny. Worse, Mr. Stark's giving him a look that tells him to keep quiet if he doesn't want to suffer the consequences.

Sonny keeps looking at the designs, longer than he did with Mr. Stark's, even, and when he finally does speak, it's a complete 180 from his reaction to Mr. Stark's.

"You've done it again. This is exactly what I was hoping for." Sonny praises, which makes Mr. Stark laugh in relief.

"This is exactly what I wanted! It's like you pulled them right out of my head and put it on paper."

The more Sonny gushes, the more Will can't help but blush from the praise, even if Sonny doesn't know the designs are his.

"And the three Christmas trees for Past, Present, and Future? It's completely brilliant!"

Will hopes foolishly Mr. Stark won't say anything else, but his hopes are in vain as he hears his own words repeated almost verbatim,

"And the ornaments for the Christmas Future tree will be made by the children from one of the art classes you fund."

And of course, Sonny loves it, just like Will knew he would, "That's...wow. Forget brilliant or genius. That's officially straight up perfect. These ideas are just so heartfelt...I love it. All of it. I really do."

Mr. Stark teases him, "And you thought I didn't know what you wanted."

Sonny assures him, "Well, believe me, that is one mistake I won't be making again."

Then he kisses Mr. Stark, "Never should've doubted you for a second."

Then be says, "Thank you for coming up for this perfect design. I literally could not be more excited to see it come to life, but I have to get to a board meeting."

He leads Mr. Stark to the door, calling from over his shoulder, "Thank you too, Will."

Will gives a half-hearted, "Bye.", as Mr. Stark shows him out.

"That went fantastic." Mr. Stark tells Will, and Will doesn't bother to hide his bitterness,

"Yeah. He completely believed you hit the nail on the head."

Mr. Stark reminds him, "That's because I did."

Will stands up abruptly, not dancing around it anymore, just coming right out and saying, "You did no such thing, and you know it! Your design didn't even come close!"

At that, Mr. Stark snaps his head around, quick to tell him, "You're ridiculously close to being fired, Will."

But Will's too upset to care, "Those designs are mine!"

Mr. Stark says, "You're on my payroll, so your designs are my designs. So as long as you work for me, anything you come up with is automatically mine."

Will can't let him get away with that, "That is completely unfair!"

Seeing Will needs to be put in his place, Mr. Stark says, "I think you'd do incredibly well to remember how I'm literally your only connection to the interior decorating world. You make it with me, you can make it anywhere. So many different doors will open for you upon seeing my name as a reference. But try and cross me again, and I will personally see to it those same doors will not only be locked, I'll have the keys to those doors smelted, and the best you could possibly hope for is prefab houses in the Cape."

From the look on Will's face, Mr. Stark knows he has his attention, so he instructs,

"That being said, since we both know you know the design so well, I'm trusting you to be completely prepared for tomorrow. We're gonna be starting on making the designs real in the morning."

Then Mr. Stark walks away, and Will quickly grabs his sketches and and storms out.


	10. Chicken Dance

"That 5 star bastard!" Neil exclaims once Will's filled both him and Chad in on what happened. "Okay, that's it. Now you absolutely have to tell Sonny the truth. About the designs, the kiss, all of it."

Will wastes no time shutting that idea down, "There's no way in hell I'm telling him anything now. It's almost been a whole week since that kiss. If I so much as suggest the designs are mine, he'll confront Mr. Stark, it'll be his boyfriend's word against mine, and if you thought he was making my life hell before, that's nothing compared to what he'd do then."

Chad snorts, "Seems to me it couldn't possibly get any worse."

Neil encourages Will, "I don't get it. Why don't you just quit already? Dare him to try and figure out what you're up to."

Will shuts that down too, "Nuh uh. No way am I quitting. I have not walked through the seven circles of hell barefoot just to throw in the towel and start completely over.", then reminds them, "And could you at least try to remember that I actually get to see my designs come to life, even if I'm the only one who knows they're mine."

Will's eyes wander, and once he sees who's standing in line, his heart pounds, "Oh. My. God."

Neil and Chad turn to look, as Will tells them, "That's him. That's Sonny."

Both are quick to show their approval, "Damn." "Wow.", while Will starts squirming in his seat,

"I really don't want him to see me."

Chad is quick to stop him, "You might as well stop. He's already seen you."

He's proven right when looks again, only to see Sonny with his head turned towards them.

Neil encourages Will, "Tell him, Will."

Chad adds, "I agree. The truth shall set you free."

Will shakes his head, "No, I'm not saying anything, neither are you. Please."

And that's all he can say about it, because next he hears, "Hey, Will.", followed by Sonny walking up to their table.

Quickly, Will pushes his panic to the side as he greets him, "Sonny! Hi." 

Then he goes about making introductions, "These are my roommates, Neil…"

Sonny shakes his hand, "The makeup artist."

Then Will continues, "And Chad."

Sonny shakes his hand as well, "The actor."

They've only just met him, and already, they're both impressed, and Chad wastes no time telling him,

"Well, someone's been doing their homework."

At the confused look on Sonny's face, Will quickly intervenes, "Don't listen to him.", which is enough for Sonny to change the subject.

"I was just so happy with the designs Leo showed me this morning. They were just so... wonderful."

The way he says it, Will can tell he means it, which feels like a punch to the gut, knowing he can't tell him the truth.

Sonny goes on, "It's like he knew what I wanted even before I did."

Before Will can stop him, Chad's butting in again, "Oh, absolutely. We were definitely shocked.", and Neil makes it worse by going along with it, "Shocked indeed. Completely."

Will tries to reign it back in, "No, not that shocked actually."

Thankfully, Sonny decides to take pity on him as he says, "I just wanted to thank you for being part of the team. Means more than you know. I think this party's gonna be the best one yet."

Now it's Neil's turn to say something, "You know, Will's got some talent in that department too. In fact, you could almost say his work is as unique as a _ snowflake _."

Will decides to just kick him, which he definitely feels, before saying, "No, no snowflakes at all."

But Sonny once again lets him off the hook, "Well, then, I can't wait to see your work too."

Under his breath, Chad lets slip out, "You already have.", but Will just kicks him as he asks, "Speaking of seeing you, will I be seeing you tomorrow?"

Sonny's face falls only slightly as he admits, "Maybe. My day tomorrow is gonna be seriously crazy, but…"

Here, Sonny turns his head, then turns back, "I should get going. My tea's ready, and Leo's no doubt waiting on me. What can I say, you've got me hooked."

Then he bids them farewell, "Nice to meet you all, and I'll see you later, Will." and walks away.

Will says a faint, "Bye.", but at the looks Neil and Chad are giving him, he gets defensive, "Guys, I told you!"

But Chad's thinking about something else, "I just figured it out. You're a little chickenshit."

Will's quick to deny it, "No I'm not!"

Neil agrees, "You absolutely are. You just got done saying you can't say anything."

Will corrects lamely, "No I didn't. I told you two to not say anything."

Chad reminds him, "Directly after you said you can't say anything."

Will plays dumb, "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not a chickenshit. I'm being completely rational."

Chad calls him on it, "Are those rations white meat or dark?"

Then Neil starts doing the chicken dance with his arms, making them all laugh.

But what they don't see is Sonny finally grabbing his tea and glancing over at their table again, walking away, then looking again before finally leaving, still not entirely sure why.

When he meets up with Leo later, Sonny's first to ask, "How was your day?", to which Leo responds, "Fabulous. How was yours?"

Sonny responds quickly, "It was good.", but for whatever reason, he feels incredibly guilty when he says it, like he's been caught doing something he shouldn't have.

But Leo's apparently oblivious, as he says, "Thanks for the coffee. Let me take your jacket off.", and Sonny's grateful as he lets Leo go hang it up.

Sonny takes a sip of his yak butter tea, sets it down, then picks up a remote for the stereo system, "Whaddya say to putting on some Christmas music?"

Leo's response is less than enthusiastic, "God no. That's all I've been hearing since Thanksgiving."

As Leo's hanging up the jacket, he notices a box in one of the pockets, and once he checks to make sure Sonny's preoccupied, opens it. 

Sure enough, it's a ring. Now the only question is why hasn't Sonny asked him yet? 

But Leo quickly shakes those thoughts away. Sonny got the ring, so he's definitely going to ask him. Just a matter of time.

Resolved, Leo closes the box and puts it back in the jacket.

Meanwhile, Sonny's just checking something on his phone while he waits, but weirdly, when Leo finally joins him again, he still can't explain why whatever excitement he'd been feeling at seeing Leo, seems to have disappeared.

But all he does is take another sip of his tea, then just looks in Leo's direction as he comes back to join him.


	11. Deck the Halls

It's complete chaos when Will shows up with all the decorations and help in the form of Chad, and Mr. Stark greets them,

"Good morning, Will."

Will replies back, "Good morning, Mr. Stark. You remember my roommate, Chad."

After pleasantries are exchanged, Mr. Stark's attention goes straight to the lamppost behind them, "What's that for?"

Chad tries to get a good grip on it as Will tries to move the bags full of decorations out of the way, "It's for Sonny's book."

Mr. Stark's quick to pretend, "Oh yeah, of course." Them moves towards the front door, "Let's have it over here."

Will's quick to point out the problem, "We can't. That's where we're putting the Christmas Future tree."

Mr. Stark only says, "If I say it's going here, it's going here.", as Chad easily carries it over to where Mr. Stark instructed, "It's my house too, or it will be very shortly."

But once Chad sets it down, Mr. Stark changes his mind, "No, I'm wrong. I don't want it there anymore.", then moves to another part of the house, "Let's see how it looks here."

Chad looks nearly put out at the thought of carrying it all over the house, but he just picks it up without a complaint and does as Mr. Stark says, Will following with the ornaments again, and sets it down by another doorway.

But Mr. Stark doesn't like that either, "No, that's not working at all. Let's try by the door."

At this, Chad can't help but mutter under his breath, "I know where I'd like to put it.", as he gets ready to lift it again.

Only, in doing so, he doesn't realize Mr. Stark was right there, so when Chad turns to move, the lamppost smacks right into his face, knocking him down.

The second Will sees what happened, he's immediately right there, "Oh my God. Are you okay?"

Mr. Stark wastes no time snapping, "No I'm not okay, you idiot! Just go grab some ice!", covering his nose with his hands.

Will jumps into action immediately, running towards the kitchen, while Chad actually snickers as he goes to grab a chair and help Mr. Stark into it.

Ice in hand, Will rushes back to where they're waiting, "Got the ice!", and goes to hand it.

But once Mr. Stark reaches for it, he inadvertently exposes the damage, and Will can't help but react,

"Oh my God.", right as Mr. Stark demands, "Get me a mirror!"

Luckily there's one nearby in the bathroom, and once Will hands it to Mr. Stark, Mr. Stark shoves the ice back at him, "Hold this!"

The second Mr. Stark sees his reflection, he's a mess, "Oh my God this is a nightmare! Jackson can't see me like this!"

Will tries to make him feel better, "Sonny wouldn't care about how you look! If he really loves you, it shouldn't matter."

Mr. Stark's not impressed by this at all, "Ugh, why do all of you plain gays think like that?" then repeats, 

"No, I'm not letting anyone see me like this. I absolutely have to look my best for my engagement. It's gonna be plastered all over the front page!"

This goes on for a moment or two, before Mr. Stark finally says, "I'm flying out to LA. I'm gonna visit my mom in LA for a few days, see her plastic surgeon, and all of this is just gonna go away."

Then Mr. Stark stands up to walk out, but Will has to remind him, "But Mr. Stark, what about all the decorating we still have to do?"

Mr. Stark turns around to answer, exasperated, "You are in charge until I'm back, Will."

But that just leaves another question, "What am I supposed to tell Sonny?"

Pissed at having to waste his breath, Mr. Stark snaps, "Just tell him I was called out of town unexpectedly. It's not unheard of!"

Then Mr. Stark slams the door shut behind him before Will can say another word, so Will just moves back to where Chad's still standing by the empty chair, as Chad says,

"You realize what this means, right?"

Will's still recovering from the fact that he's just been put in charge of the most important event of his entire career to date, so he jokes, "That the winged monkeys can finally have a moment to breathe?"

Chad agrees, "That, and you've just been given permission to have 3 days alone with Sonny."

The rest of the decorating goes smoothly, with no other hiccups occurring as they get all of the decorations where they're supposed to, from boughs of holly on the piano, to ribbons on the staircase handrails, to a small wreath on the lamppost, to even a miniature sleigh in the mantel, the last of which Will's working on when a familiar voice calls out as the front door opens,

"It's beautiful."

Will turns, and sure enough, Sonny's surveying the entire room, marveling at all the decorations as he says, "Too bad Leo's not here to see this."

Will steps down from the ladder, "Thanks."

Sonny goes on, "We're definitely right on track."

Will agrees, "We absolutely are. In fact, we're so on track, we're now officially ready to grab the trees. Right after hanging the decorations."

Will walks over to grab his jacket to head out, but Sonny looks completely confused,

"You're going to get them now? This late?"

Will nods, "Yeah. I love Christmas tree shopping at night. It means they turn on the lights and play Christmas music. Makes for a really festive atmosphere."

Sonny's confusion gives way to skepticism as he asks next, "You're grabbing all three of them by yourself?"

Now Will's the one confused, "That was the plan, yeah."

But that appears to be the response Sonny needed, as he makes clear, "Well, I'm sorry, but there's no way I'm letting you do that. At least not by yourself. Let me come with."

Will's knee jerk reaction is to turn him down, not wanting to make their interactions any more complicated than necessary, "No, you don't have to do that. I'm perfectly capable. Believe me, when you work on sets as long as I have, carrying things that are big and bulky becomes second nature."

But Sonny's not budging, "Will, please. I'd feel a lot better if you'd let me help."

Finally, Will relents, "Alright, if you're sure.", and leads both of them out of the house towards the tree lot.


	12. O Christmas Tree

When they arrive, they're immediately greeted by carolers,

_ We wish you a Merry Christmas _

_ We wish you a Merry Christmas _

_ We wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year _

_ Oh, bring us some figgy pudding _

_ Oh, bring us some figgy pudding _

_ Oh, bring us some figgy pudding _

_ And bring it out here _

_ We won't go until we get some _

_ We won't go until we get some _

_ We won't go until we get some _

_ So bring some out here. _

When they finish, both Will and Sonny clap politely, before Sonny wonders out loud, "What is figgy pudding, anyway?"

Will jokes, "Well, if they won't go until they get some, it has to be good, right?"

Then the carolers start their own rendition of "O Christmas Tree", and Sonny has to laugh, "Perfect timing on their part."

Will denies it, "Nah, they probably sing it for everyone that shows up to buy a tree."

Sonny notes, thinking about Leo's earlier refusal to play Christmas music, "Probably gonna get really old before we're done here."

But Will surprises him by saying, "Absolutely not! Christmas carols never get old."

As they walk around the lot, Will tells Sonny,

"Growing up, I always loved going to pick a Christmas tree. Every year we'd have this huge kind of ceremony where we hang ornaments with all of our family's names on them, and always hang a new one whenever there was a new addition, be it a spouse or a new baby."

Sonny listens as he looks around at all the trees, "Sounds like a Thomas Kinkade painting come to life."

Will nods, "Yeah, in a lot of ways, it was. It was a big deal in the town I grew up in, especially when relatives would fly in just to be there for it. And then, after it was over and it was just the immediate family, we'd watch Christmas movies."

At that, Sonny prompts him, "You got any favorites?"

Will replies, "Charlie Brown Christmas, naturally. The Grinch, It's a Wonderful Life, a Christmas Story, oh, and it's not Christmas unless you watch a Muppet Christmas Carol at least once."

Listening to Will talk about it makes Sonny smile, and he tells him, "Must've been some really special memories for you."

Will sees no problem admitting, "Yeah, they were.", before he stops right in front of a tree.

"This is it. It's perfect."

After finding the other two, Sonny all but insists he treat Will to a coffee as a reward for a job well done.

Once they're once again seated at Common Grounds, Sonny with his tea, Will wish his usual order, Sonny confesses,

"You know something? Before tonight, I don't think I've ever gone shopping for a Christmas tree before."

Will's shocked, "You're serious?"

Sonny sips his drink as he admits, "Nope. Not once. Someone else usually picked them out, then they'd show up at the mansion ready to be decorated. My dad was always traveling, my mom was always busy, so Christmas wasn't a huge affair growing up. No personal touches at all."

Then Sonny looks at Will as he says next, "Except, of course, my aunt Maggie. She always did whatever she could to make Christmas special for me."

Will knows it's none of his business, but he's only curious, "Is she..?"

Sonny shakes his head, "No, no. Passed away about 5 years ago. Still think about her all the time. Honestly if it wasn't for her, the family would've fallen apart a long time ago."

Will decides they need to step away from the seriousness, and changes the subject, "Tell me, how did you get into theater anyway?"

At this, Sonny laughs, slightly nervous about telling him, "Oh boy. That's actually a really embarrassing story. You sure you wanna hear?"

When Will nods, Sonny starts, "Back in high school, I wanted to be an actor. I was in the drama club and had Shylock's entire speech from  _ Merchant of Venice  _ memorized. Nobody could touch me, I was so on point. When I'm done, the whole room is completely silent. No one's saying anything, so cocky bastard that I am, I'm thinking I absolutely nailed it. Finally, after what feels like forever, the teacher finally says something. She says, "Sonny, you do realize Shylock is contemplating revenge in this speech, right?'"

Will laughs, as Sonny finishes, "So after that, I thought it would be better for everyone if I just stuck to backstage. Surprise: I loved every second of it."

Will can't believe it. Sonny Kiriakis worked behind the stage, just like him. But before he can think too hardly on it, he sees someone at the counter,

"Oh look! It's Neil and Chad!", and waves them over, coffees in hand.

Once they reach their table, Sonny stands up to shake their hands, offering, "Can I treat either one of you to a cannoli?"

Chad politely declines, "I made those this morning."

Sonny asks, "Do you always eat your inventory?"

Chad laughs, "No, but I'm big on licking the spoon!"

Neil jokes, "Chad actually has that listed on his resume as one of his talents. Actually got him some weird acting jobs."

Will fills them in, "We were just talking about Christmas Past."

Neil's intrigued, "Oh yeah? Any ghosts come to visit?"

Will looks at Sonny at that, not wanting to tell them anything he wouldn't want them to know.

But Sonny just says, "Yeah, definitely a few."

Then they all proceed to spend the rest of the night talking and laughing, well into the night before deciding to get the trees home and ready to decorate.


	13. The Holly and the Ivy

The next day is just as hectic, with people constantly showing up with more decorations and Will opening the boxes to start hanging ornaments on the trees one by one.

Eventually, Sonny makes an appearance with two bowls in his hands, noting, "Bunch of boxes.", which prompts Will to tell him,

"That's because the Christmas Past and Present ornaments arrived. The Christmas Future ornaments are still being made as we speak, so they won't arrive until tomorrow."

Sonny find this humorous, "The Christmas Future ornaments won't be arriving until tomorrow."

Will agrees, "Indeed. But what happens when the future turns into the present, and the future is here?"

That actually gets Sonny to stop and think for a moment, before shaking his head, "Okay, no more fortune cookies for you. Here. Little surprise for you.", and handing Will one of the bowls.

Will takes it, and upon recognizing it in the spot, has to know, "How in the hell did you manage to find figgy pudding in 24 hours?"

Sonny tells him, "Wasn't easy, trust me."

They both take a fork to get a bite, while Will notes, "You sure this is actually supposed to be pudding?"

Sonny can't stop himself from cringing, "Can I be honest here? It looks disgusting."

Will silently agrees, but still gets a bite ready and dares him, "You first."

Sonny teases, "Oh no, I couldn't. Please, do the honors. I'm nothing if not a gentleman."

Finally, Will just goes for it, shoving his bite into his mouth, and the second the taste sinks in, he gags, "Oh God. It's even worse than it looks."

Sonny takes his own bite, thinking Will's exaggerating, only to be proven dead wrong.

He attempts to look like he's actually savoring it, but gives it up just as quick, "Fruitcake tastes better than this."

Will sighs in relief, "And Newtons are officially the only fig approved food allowed in this house from this point on.", then hands Sonny the bowl back, "But thank you very much for that... educational experience. I gotta get back to work on the Christmas Past tree." But then he asks on a complete whim, "Would you wanna help?"

Sonny's surprised, but is nonetheless excited, "I'd love to."

The next few hours or so are spent hanging ornaments and Will telling Sonny where they're supposed to go.

At one point, Sonny's holding a silver bell ornament, and says offhand, "My aunt Maggie would've loved this.", then goes to sit down, suddenly overwhelmed by emotions.

Will stays standing, but listens as Sonny keeps talking, "This whole design. She would've absolutely loved it. She was the one that made Christmas really special for all of us. Not exactly an easy thing to do on the other side of the world."

Will says nothing, just lets Sonny speak.

"She bought me that first edition Christmas Carol right before she died. You know that short story, The Gift of the Magi?"

At Will's nod, Sonny continues, "Well she really had nothing to her own name, except for a family heirloom, which she sold just so she could get it for me. The Kiriakis family had so many different resources, and could've bought it with chump change, but she wouldn't listen, insisted on buying it herself. Just for me."

Now Will has to say something, careful not to give himself away,

"We could tell from the first time we visited how much that book meant to you. I can't tell you how happy I am you love the design."

Sonny agrees, "Yep.", but then unintentionally ruins with what he says next, "I was actually surprised Leo was able to pick up on that. Cause more often than not, I feel like we're just never on the same page."

At that, Will feels his heart sink, as Sonny goes on, oblivious, "Then he pulls all of this out of nowhere."

Finally, Will can't take it anymore, and goes to sit next to Sonny, "Sonny, I... really need to tell you something."

Sonny starts to turn, but once again, the moment is ruined when Sonny's phone goes off, "Excuse me for a moment." then once he sees the name, "It's Leo. Be right back?"

Will gestures for him to go ahead, and when Sonny steps away, Will gets up to go back to hanging ornaments, kicking himself for almost telling him, as he sees how happy Sonny is just talking to Mr. Stark on the phone.


	14. Under the Christmas Lights

Later, after Sonny hangs up, they start on the Christmas Present tree, and only when they're almost finished, does Sonny finally make the connection,

"Decorating a Christmas Present tree with Christmas present ornaments."

Will laughs, "Yep, but you can't say it's not inspired.", and his laughter has Sonny joining in, "I love it."

It's then that Sonny realizes they've been decorating well into the dark hours of the day, and goes to fix that, "Getting dark. I'm gonna turn on a light."

But Will stops him, "No don't!", and upon Sonny's confused expression, Will explains, picking up a remote control, "I have all the lights rigged to this remote.", then shows it to Sonny, "Just push this little button right here, and..." pushes it, and all the lights begin to illuminate the entire first floor, perfectly complementing the decorations as Will tells Sonny, "Merry Christmas."

Sonny doesn't reply, still taking it all in now that he can see the design finally coming together, before he finally manages to find his voice again, "'Happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.'"

The quote makes Will smile, never having pegged him as a Harry Potter fan, but Sonny's not finished yet, "It's really beautiful."

Will almost says something, but he quickly squashes it as he leads Sonny back to another room, "Come see what we did with your book."

The second Sonny sees it, he's so overwhelmed with emotion, he has to stop himself from outright sobbing, "That is indescribably perfect."

The book is on its own display, which holds it open to the book's title and opening illustration, so everyone will see it upon walking into the room. 

Sonny can't bring himself to speak for several moments, but once he does, he's completely sincere, "I really want to take you out to dinner to thank you for all your hard work. Will you let me?"

Will's not sure if it's because of seeing the design come together, or the pleading look in Sonny's eyes, but his response surprises even himself, "Sure. I'd love to."

"They definitely don't serve pizza or beer at any of the events I go to. It's the cast party where I have the luxury of enjoying…" Sonny gestures to their order, "You guessed it, pizza and beer."

Which makes Will wonder, "Does that mean you're attending the cast party for the Nutcracker opening?"

Sonny admits, "Not sure on that one. That night could potentially be very important for me."

Then Sonny reaches into his jacket pocket, "Where did I put it…", then finally finds what he's looking for, and shows it to Will, box open,

"I was actually thinking that might be the perfect night to propose."

Will knew this was a possibility, but actually seeing the ring suddenly makes it more real, and all he can think of to say, idiotically, is, "To Mr. Stark?"

Sonny doesn't notice, just asks, "Whaddya think? Should I?"

Somehow, Will manages to unstick his tongue and try to offer his honest opinion, "It's a really beautiful ring. It just doesn't seem like something Mr. Stark would wear."

At that, Sonny looks completely confused, "Really?"

Will goes on, "Yeah. That's more traditional, and Mr. Stark is more of a contemporary kind of guy."

Sonny pulls the box back to look at it himself, having never thought of that before, before telling Will,

"I bought it back in Dubai. And I was 100% sure we were meant to be. But once I got back in Chicago, couldn't figure out if I was all tied up in knots or feeling butterflies. Thing is, I definitely felt butterflies the other night."

That makes Will's eyes light up, "You did?"

But the guilty look on Sonny's face makes Will's face fall as Sonny goes on, "Yeah, I did. Problem is it wasn't with Leo. So I couldn't figure out if I was tied up in knots or feeling butterflies for Leo. I thought I was tied up in knots, but I was actually feeling butterflies. So, I guess I'm feeling butterflies."

Hearing Sonny talk about Will, even if he doesn't know it, makes Will's heart soar, but he pushes it down as he asks, "Not sure I'm following you here."

Sonny explains, trying to play it off, "Oh nothing. Just Grandma Caroline talking."

Will's smile, if possible, gets bigger upon hearing Sonny mention Will's actual great Grandma Caroline, but Sonny doesn't give him a chance, "It was the designs. First time he showed me them, and all the love and sentimentality he put into them, that's when I finally knew."

Will can't believe what he's hearing, "You seriously mean to tell me it was the designs that convinced you?"

Sonny confirms without hesitating, "Absolutely. There's no doubt in my mind."

If he'd been anyone else, Will would've confessed to everything right then and there.

But at the look of complete happiness on Sonny's face as he talks about Mr. Stark, he just doesn't have the heart.

At seeing Will's distracted look, Sonny offers, "Did you want anything else while we're here?", and that finally manages to snap Will out of it, and shakes his head, "Nah, I'm good."


	15. Jingle Bells

As Will and Sonny start walking, Will starts listing his favorite plays to pass the time,

"Measure for Measure, King Lear, and you still can't go wrong with The Merchant of Venice. It's as timeless as the city."

Sonny laughs good-naturedly, but suddenly stops to look at something, which makes Will realize instead of walking back to the mansion, they've been walking downtown.

"What's wrong?" Will asks, following Sonny's gaze to a horse drawn carriage just sitting nearby.

Sonny explains, "Reminds me of the sleigh in Leo's design."

Which reminds Will he might have been inadvertently flirting, "Oh. Right."

Sonny goes on, "Just love how he actually took the time to put something really romantic right in the middle of it.", a beat, then, "What if I proposed on a carriage ride?"

Immediately, Will knows he has to be honest about that idea, "I'm not entirely sure on that. He seems like someone who would want something way more flashy."

Which takes Sonny completely by surprise, "What? No! You kidding? It would be perfect!"

That would be it, but apparently Will hasn't suffered enough, because Sonny then asks next, "Would you take a ride with me?"

Will knows he should say no, but Sonny doesn't let him speak, "I just want to test it, see how it feels as a potential proposal."

Will finally managed to say, "I don't know." 

Sonny insists, "Come on. It'll be fun!"

And Will can only relent, and they both walk over to where the coachman is waiting, and Sonny asks, "Can we get a ride?"

The coachman responds, "If you have 25 bucks, you absolutely can." 

Sonny agrees, and Will steps in first, while Sonny pays the coachman before getting in himself.

Once the coachman is in the driver's seat, he turns to ask, "You two all settled in?"

Will says quickly, "Yep."

And with that, they're off.

The carriage starts moving, and neither say anything for a moment, then Will starts to point out the lights that they pass by, but honestly? Sonny's more interested in the guy pointing them out.

The carriage ride is truly magical, passing by the most breathtaking views of the city at Christmastime, and both of them unable to stop stealing glances at the other.

Finally, the carriage pulls to a stop, and the coachman asks, "And we're back, safe and sound. Did you two lovebirds enjoy yourselves?"

Will's quick to correct, "Oh no, we're not-." But Sonny surprises Will by cutting him off, "Thanks for the ride.", and gives the coachman another ten as a tip.

Once Sonny gets out, Will tells him,

"Breathtaking views of the city, clear waters, and fresh snow-.", only realizing too late he isn't paying attention to where he stepped, and slips getting out of the carriage.

Somewhere between Will falling and Sonny catching him, it turns into a full on embrace, Will placing a hand on Sonny's back.

For a moment they just stare at each other, Will wanting nothing more than to kiss him, Sonny's heart pounding in a way he knows it never has with Leo.

It's Will that breaks the silence first, "It was amazing.", and Sonny agrees, "Yeah, it really was.", but they still don't look away or move from their spot, until Will steps away first, "My book bag.", and goes to grab it from the carriage, and telling the coachman,

"Merry Christmas."

They don't say another word for the rest of the night.


	16. So This is Christmas

"He was obviously talking about you in the elevator!" Neil tells Will as they all get ready to head for bed. "Everyone knows a flutter is just a spark under a different name!"

Will's quick to agree, "I know! I thought so too! But he showed me the ring. He really thinks Mr. Stark is the one."

Neil comes back to join both Will and Chad on Will's bed, reminding him, "No, you are! The designs, the kiss, it's all you. Will, you have to tell him the truth. All of it. Before he proposes and gets engaged for the wrong reasons."

Will admits, "It's not like I didn't try! But you two were right. I'm a chickenshit."

At this, Chad offers, "I'll do it."

Will admonishes him, "Absolutely not! If the truth comes out now, I'm going to be the cunning one. And it's still Mr. Stark's word against mine about the designs."

Neil tries to point out, "But at least the truth would be out there."

But Will already sees the problem with this, "All that's gonna do is make Sonny embarrassed he didn't recognize me from the elevator, on top of pissed I didn't say anything sooner, which would permanently ruin our friendship, not to mention he still won't know who to believe about the designs. Hell, forget about Sonny, what about me? I'm gonna be the one who will suffer the consequences from Mr. Stark."

Unfortunately, neither Neil or Chad are taking this as seriously as him, who start laughing as Neil tries to calm him down, "You realize that would only happen in the absolute worst case scenario, right? Try thinking about the best case scenario, which is just as likely."

Will rolls his eyes, "Yeah sure. As likely as me winning the lottery."

At the look Neil gives him, Will reiterates, "No! I'm just gonna try and forget about him."

Chad jokes, "Will, the only way that's possible is if you died and were brought back to life by a mad scientist. Neil, could you please go grab the necktie and the serum?"**

Neil pretends to get up, and they all burst out laughing.

Elsewhere, Sonny's lying in bed, unable to sleep as he stares at the ceiling, until he finally turns on a light, and the next thing he knows, he's getting up and going straight for his jacket.

Sonny reaches into his pocket for the ring box he's been keeping there, opening it to look at the ring just one more time, and the longer he looks at it, the more he knows what he needs to do. 

Before he can change his mind, he sets it on the nightstand, box open, and picks up his phone, dialing a number.

When the other party picks up, he says, "Hello, it's Jackson Kiriakis calling from the US. I purchased a ring from your store, and I was calling to inquire about your return policy." A beat, then, "Okay, just have him call me back once he gets the message. I appreciate it. Thank you. Bye."

Then he hangs up and sets his phone back on the nightstand next to the ring box, then closes it to stash it in the drawer, and turns off the light, not entirely sure how he feels about it, or how he's going to deal with the fallout, but is now absolutely positive he's doing the right thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **this actually happened!


	17. Christmas Please

The next day, Will, Chad and Neil are at the Common Grounds when Will's phone goes off, and when he checks, it's not good news,

"Crap. Apparently the Christmas Future ornaments won't be showing up until late afternoon. I gotta call Sonny so he knows."

Will promptly steps away to do just that, while Chad and Neil watch him from a distance pitifully.

As Will talks, Neil points out, "Would you look at him? God, I swear I've never seen him this happy."

Chad agrees, "I know. I hate how fucked up this whole thing really is."

Neil ponders, "Why does he keep falling for guys that are completely out of his league?"

Which prompts Chad to say, "But you know something? That just means you can't deny he has really awesome taste in guys."

They chuckle at that, before Neil says, "We both know this is unacceptable. We gotta help pull him out of this mess. The question is how?"

Chad replies, "I have no idea. But if this guy winds up breaking his heart, I'm just gonna have to shove my Chucks so far up his ass, he'll be coughing up the shoelaces."

That's right when Will walks back over, as he tells them, "Sonny said he wants to decorate the tree tonight!"

Neil says bluntly, "Tell. Him."

Seeing they're still not letting this go, Will just repeats, "I already told you I can't. Why do I need to keep reminding you over and over?"

Not wanting Will to walk away mad, Chad smooths it over, "Then be careful, alright?"

Glad at least one friend isn't hounding him over it, Will waves off the concern, "It's just decorating. Nothing is gonna happen."

And nothing does happen, as both Will and Sonny throw themselves into decorating the tree with the handmade ornaments.

"God, these are so precious. Look at it!" Will holds up a paper angel for Sonny to see, who agrees,

"Exactly. Having the kids make them was such a brilliant idea."

Then Sonny steps away from the tree to tell Will, "Alright, now that the tree is completely decorated, I have a surprise for you."

At the word surprise, Will's immediately on guard, "Please tell me it's not figgy pudding."

But Sonny just laughs, "No, I swear. Threw that out."

Will relaxes, "Okay, good."

Sonny goes on, "No, I think you're really gonna like this.", And holds up a stack of DVDs, handing them to Will. "I thought, in honor of your Christmas tradition with your family, I have here, Charlie Brown Christmas, The Grinch, A Christmas Story, It's a Wonderful Life and a Muppet Christmas Carol, the last of which in honor of my aunt Maggie."

Will can't help but be moved, "Wow... thank you." Then he tries to cut the tension he suddenly feels, "Lot of hours to put in, don't you think?"

Sonny agrees, "Yeah. Probably should get started, huh?", and walks away to get the DVD player set up.

Will follows, asking, "You sure you're up for watching them all in one go?"

Sonny assures him, "Yeah, I'm positive."

Will pushes, "Even the Muppets?"

Seeing Will's not giving up, Sonny confesses, "I've actually never seen any of them."

Naturally, Will's shocked, " _ None _ of them? They're the freaking classics!"

Sonny confirms, "Not one."

Will tries, "Even It's a Wonderful Life? I cry every time Harry Bailey gives his toast."

When Sonny just shrugs, Will tosses him the DVDs back, informing him, "You had one seriously deprived childhood, and I've just decided I'm not gonna let that stand."

Sonny agrees, "Sad, but true." Then, "Chinese takeout?"

Will nods, "Chinese takeout it is."

The next several hours are spent watching every single movie, only stopping to pay the delivery guy when he shows up with their food.

As Will predicted, Sonny loves every single one of them, laughing right alongside Will at the funnier ones, and once, when he steals a glance at Will during It's a Wonderful Life, sure enough, he's starting to tear up. But nice guy that he is, Sonny doesn't point it out, just hands him a napkin to wipe his tears, not saying a word.

Eventually, Will starts nodding off, until his head eventually lands on Sonny's shoulder, but instead of waking him up, he pulls a blanket from behind him and drapes it over Will, not even fully realizing doing so prompts Will's head to fall on his shoulder.

And then, finally, well into the night, Sonny's nodding off as well, both of them resting their heads on each other, Will on Sonny's chest, Sonny on the back of the couch turned towards Will.

In fact, once they're both asleep, neither of the wake up until the following morning.

The front door opens, and Leo walks through, now fully refreshed from his mini vacation in LA.

"Jackson?"

Upon hearing his name, Sonny finally stirs from the couch, disrupting Will from where he had his head positioned.

"Hello? Where are you?" Leo calls again, right as he walks into the living room.


	18. Take a Bow

It takes Sonny a moment to realize Leo's standing in the doorway, but once he does, he immediately moves away from Will, who's just waking up himself.

"Leo." Sonny greets him, standing up to fold up the blanket. "Welcome back. I missed you."

Leo quips, having already seen how they were sitting. "I'm sure you did."

At this, Will stands up quickly to try and explain, "The Christmas Future ornaments shipment arrived late, and we wanted to have everything decorated before you came back."

From the look on Leo's face, he clearly isn't buying it, so Will just says, "I'm gonna go.", grabs his jacket and turns to go.

Sonny calls after him, "Thank you for all your help, Will."

Will smiles back at Sonny, but with Leo still glaring at him, he just says, "Bye, Sonny.", and leaves.

Sonny walks over to where Leo's still standing, tells him, "Good to have you back.", and kisses him on the cheek.

"Gross. You smell like old takeout." Leo informs him, which prompts Sonny to assure him,

"You can't be serious. Nothing happened."

Leo says sarcastically, "That never even occurred to me. He's my assistant."

Sonny almost says something else, but decides against it and just says, "I'm gonna hop in the shower."

Then Sonny walks away to do just that, right when his phone goes off, so Leo decides to answer it himself.

"Hello?" Pause. "Mr. Kiriakis isn't here at the moment, can I take a message?" A much longer pause, then, "Inquiring about the return policy on the ring?" Pause. "I'll let him know."

Then Leo hangs up, and once he locates Sonny's jacket, picks it up and reaches into the pocket for the ring, but once he realizes it's not there, he tosses the jacket aside and marches off to the bedroom.

A quick search through the dresser drawers proves pointless, so he tries the nightstand, and grabs the box on sight, opening it as he contemplates his next move.

When Sonny comes back down the stairs, he's dressed to impress, as Leo stands up from where he was waiting. 

"You're looking sharp." Leo tries, but Sonny just goes straight for his jacket, not saying anything.

Then Leo stands up, and tries again, "Thought about us the entire time I was gone."

Seeing Leo's not gonna let him leave until he says something, Sonny admits, "So did I. And actually, there's something I really need to tell you. I have some time before my board meeting, if you want."

But Leo doesn't want that, "No, don't be silly. You go ahead. I'm just gonna clean up this mess. So much to do before the party, you know?"

Sonny looks at all the trash still sitting on the coffee table, then just says, "Talk later then." then leaves.

That part handled, and once he's sure Sonny is completely out of earshot, Leo pulls out his own phone to place a very specific phone call.

Will's phone rings right as he's getting out of the shower, so he picks it up, only to see Mr. Stark's number on the caller ID.

Knowing it can't be good, he only hesitates for a second before answering. "Hello, Mr. Stark?"

_ "Get your ass back over here, now!" _Leo snaps at him, then promptly hangs up.

Will winces, then goes to get changed before he heads back over.

Will's not even looking at Mr. Stark as he picks up all the trash still left on the table, when Mr. Stark finally speaks up,

"Jackson definitely missed me. In fact, he missed me so much he finally proposed."

Will freezes at that. He knew this was inevitable, even when he and Sonny were spending time together, he always knew it, but to finally hear it after all this time, it's like having the rug pulled out from under him.

But he wouldn't dare say any of that to Mr. Stark, so he just looks up and repeats, "He asked you to marry him?"

Mr. Stark confirms, "Right in front of your beloved Christmas Future tree. Fitting, I suppose.", then sits down on the couch.

Will summons up all the self restraint in his arsenal as he replies, "Yeah, it really is. Congratulations."

But that's all about to go to hell in a handbasket, as Mr. Stark says next, "Once you're finished with this, you're fired."

At that, Will doesn't even bother hiding the shock on his face, as Mr. Stark continues, "You're no longer welcome in this house, and don't you dare even consider attending Jackson's party."

Will wishes more than anything he could say or do something besides just stand there, but he can't. He knows this is his fault. He knew getting involved with Sonny like this was a bad idea, and now he's paying the price.

"I trusted you, Will. I honestly thought you had talent. And this is how you repay me, by completely betraying my trust?"

Will refuses to let Mr. Stark think that, for Sonny's sake more than his own, "No, Mr. Stark. You have to believe me. Nothing happened between me and Sonny. He loves you. You're the one he wants to marry."

Mr. Stark continues, like he wasn't interrupted, "You had your precious time with him. I don't want to hear your excuses. And if you're dumb enough to try to keep in touch with him, I will reinstate my original threat and will personally see to it myself that you never work in this city again. Now get rid of this crap."

With that, Mr. Stark gets up and leaves the room, leaving Will still standing there, completely and utterly crushed as he does as he's told, wiping the tears from his eyes as they fall.


	19. Tonight I Wanna Cry

"It's my fault." Will tells Neil later, after he's told him about the newest development.

Neil is quick to deny this, "No, it's not."

Will repeats, "Yes it is. I'm the one who agreed to spend all my time with him. Shopping for the trees, the carriage ride, even the Christmas movies.", voice wobbling slightly at that last part.

"Now it's so much worse than if I had insisted on not having anything to do with him." Will pauses here, before he realizes,

"Shit. Why did I have to come up with those designs at all?"

Neil's quick to stop those thoughts dead in their tracks, "Don't go there. You have a gift, and those designs came from deep down inside where you know only the best ideas ever come from. After spending all this time together, as well as with him, he should be able to see that. He's not even in the same ballpark as you, Will. You're hot, he's not."

Will reminds him, "But he's the one who gets a happily ever after with Sonny."

But Neil's thought of that too, "Believe me, whatever marriage they have together, happiness will not have anything to do with it. Got it?"

Will doesn't say anything, just picks up a napkin to wipe his eyes, before Neil decides to change the subject.

"Come to the theater. Take a night off from this soap opera."

At first, Will shakes his head, unable to even think about anything else, much less doing anything to distract himself. 

But then, the words are out of him before he can even think about taking them back,

"I fell in love with him." 

Neil isn't phased by this at all, "I know. I'm really sorry."

Will goes on, "It just hurts so damn much.", right as Neil pulls him in for a hug, rubbing his back in comfort.

Elsewhere, Leo dials a number, and once someone picks up, he says,

"Hi, I need to speak to someone in your lifestyle section." Pause. "I wanted to tell you I know for a fact that Jackson Kiriakis' cocktail party on Saturday will also be doubling as his engagement party." Another pause. "Yes, to Leo Stark. You already have a photo of the couple on file. Back in the last season of the Chicago Sinfonietta." One last pause. "Let's just say I'm someone really close to the couple." 


	20. It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

It's a much happier Sonny Kiriakis that shows up at the theater, when who should he bump into but Caroline Brady once again as he bumps into her backstage.

"Well, hello, Mr. Kiriakis." Caroline greets him, and Sonny replies just as warmly, "Hello, Grandma Caroline."

She has to point out, "You look like someone who's had the weight of the world lifted from their shoulders."

Sonny smiles, "Know something? I actually think it has. I'm gonna return the ring."

Which prompts Caroline to ask, "That mean all those knots and butterflies are finally all squared away?"

Sonny nods, "Yes, Grandma Caroline, I believe they are."

Then Caroline walks away with her janitor's cart, so Sonny bids her farewell, as he leaves to go break the news to Leo.

When he walks through the front doors of the Kiriakis mansion, he's met with a very enthusiastic greeting,

"Jackson! I'm glad you're home!"

Sonny takes a moment to take his jacket off, before he says, "We really need to talk."

But Leo's quick to monopolize the conversation, "You're right, we absolutely do. This day has been the absolute worst. Will quit this morning! Said he realized over the last few days that he wasn't cut out for this whole world."

That's definitely not something Sonny was expecting, especially after the past few days, "Are you serious? Will actually quit?"

Leo confirms, "Yes! At least he had the common decency to wish us both well, and to tell us we're the perfect couple. Which we are."

But Sonny's still trying to wrap his head around it. After everything they'd done the past few days, after Sonny just decided to call off his engagement, Will just up and quits? "He's gone?"

Leo confirms one more time, "Yes! He won't even come to the party." Then he holds up his left hand, now adorned with Sonny's ring. "Which is now also our engagement party!"

Then he quickly stands up to grab Sonny in a kiss, "Yes, yes, a thousand times yes, I'll marry you!" He kisses Sonny again, "I will marry you!"

Sonny pushes him away, trying to tell him, "No, Leo, wait a second. I don't-."

Leo cuts him off, "I know the rings not perfect, but we can always reset it! I love it, I really really do! In fact, it's all the proof I need that you love me, and I love you! We are gonna be so happy together, you'll see!"

Sonny attempts to say something again, but Leo stops him again, "Don't say anything. Just remember all the passion and love we had for each other when we were traveling around the world. And we can have that right here in Chicago too! And if you want to cancel all of the events so we can have more time together, I couldn't be more thrilled." Then Leo kisses Sonny again, long and hard, before pulling away, waiting for his answer.

Sonny doesn't know how to react at all. First the guy he's really come to care about quits on him, and now he's apparently engaged to a man he now knows he can't marry.

Finally, instead of answering, Sonny just says, "I need a drink." and walks away.


	21. Don We Now Our Gay Apparel

The hours leading up to the party pass by in a blur.

The engagement announcement showed up in the papers yesterday, so Leo immediately gets his mom on the phone to tell her all about it.

Elsewhere, Sonny picks up the Nutcracker from the pastry basket and walks up to one of the christmas trees, hesitating for only a second before hanging it there. If Will can't be there, Sonny at least wants him there in spirit.

Will makes himself useful by taking up Neil's offer and helping him at the theater, holding costumes and carrying them over to the intended dancers.

At one point, Sonny stands outside the theater and debates going in, if only to ask Will what happened, so he doesn't feel like a complete asshole.

But, really, there's a party to get ready for, and a fiance that's going to be wondering where he is if he's late, so instead, he turns around and just makes his way home.

Back inside, Will's hanging up the costumes when Neil comes up, and the second they catch each other's eyes, Will's face falls and he has to walk away, tears falling rapidly as he runs out the back door.

This doesn't escape the attention of Caroline Brady, who walks up to Neil to ask, "What's the matter with Will, Neil?"

Neil sighs as he fills her in, "It's that asshole Sonny. He's too stupidly oblivious to see that he's in love with Will, so he's gone right ahead and gotten himself engaged to that gold digging penthouse troll."

Caroline definitely has something to say about that, "That's news to me. Because I'd swear on my life he just told me he felt butterflies on the elevator, and was planning on returning the ring."

Neil can't believe it, "Get outta here."

Caroline jokes, "If I didn't practically live here, I would. But I swear that's what he told me almost verbatim."

Now Neil's back to being pissed, "That is the most fucked up thing I've ever heard.", as he looks towards the door. "We need to do something."

Caroline agrees, "I'll do anything to help my great grandson. Count me in."

"Is this really necessary?" Will asks later, as Neil's getting ready for later tonight.

Neil is adamant, "Yes it absolutely is! You're not missing my opening night."

Will feels bad, "Neil, I'm really, really sorry. I'm just not exactly in a 'fabulous' mood."

Chad, who's also getting ready, pipes up, "And that's exactly why you need to come! It'll make you feel better!"

Will rolls his eyes, "Somehow, I highly doubt that."

But neither of them are letting up, as Chad repeats, "Will, come on! It won't be the same without you there."

Neil agrees, "Yes! In fact, that's all the more reason to feel 'fabulous'. And sorry to burst your bubble, but 'I don't really feel like it', isn't gonna cut it tonight."

Will tries for a more rational approach, "But I'm just gonna be backstage. Why do I need to get dressed up just for that?"

Neil has an argument for this too, "Two words: After. Party. Not to mention all the cute guy ballet dancers."

That finally gets Will to laugh, despite himself, "Are you serious? Something like that could not be further from my mind."

Then Neil decides to just lay down the law, hands on his hips as he orders Will, "Then do it as a favor to me. Take your lumps."

Seeing he's not going to win this argument, Will relents, "Fine, fine. But I'm dressing myself up this time.", and gets up to do just that.


	22. Wonderful Christmas Time

Hours later, the Christmas party is in full swing, as the guests all mingle and sample the hors d'oeuvres, and Leo wastes no time talking to every single one he can by himself, because Sonny's yet to come down from his room.

When Sonny finally does come down the stairs, Leo walks right over and whispers, "You're being incredibly rude to our guests. Please try to remember this is also our engagement party.", as he sips his champagne.

But Sonny doesn't seem to care. In fact, Leo's comment seems to prompt Sonny to remind Leo, "But as I've told you many times before, this party is for the city ballet's sponsors and donors. And I never actually proposed, either."

Leo's thrown for a moment, before he's all about trying to gloss it over, "I think it was absolutely perfect how it happened." and leans in and kisses Sonny.

But the more Leo speaks, the more pissed Sonny gets, "But that's the thing. Nothing actually happened."

It's only because they're surrounded by guests that Leo's only response is to say, "Of course it did. You bought me a gorgeous silver band. What are you doing?"

But Sonny's attention has moved onto the tree he's standing front of, and upon noticing something, demands,

"Where the hell is the nutcracker ornament?"

Leo explains, not bothering to hide his disdain, "It was tacky and didn't belong.", then points out, "Ugh, this is exactly why I hate real Christmas trees. Leaves a big ugly mess wherever they go."

Hearing that, Sonny's suspicions are definitely raised, so he tells Leo, "I happen to love real Christmas trees. That's supposed to be why you put them in the design, remember?"

Then he full on glares at Leo, as he accuses, "Unless of course it was actually Will's and you've just been taking credit for them all this time."

Leo defends himself, "Whatever work was put into this party was done for my benefit, under my orders."

Which only serves to confirm what Sonny should've known all along. But still, because he has to know for sure, he asks one more question, looking right in Leo's eyes,

"Then tell me something. What was the inspiration for the design?"

Leo's obviously pissed at being asked, so he quickly says, "Your uncle Victor"s book, of course. Now can you please drop it?"

Sonny shakes his head, mostly at his own stupidity for not figuring it out sooner, then leans in to whisper in Leo's ear, "It was my aunt Maggie's book.", and walks away, contemplating what he should do next, now that he finally knows the truth.


	23. Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy

After the party's over, all the guests make their way to the theater, while backstage, Will watches the dancers warm up before their performance.

Sonny and Leo take their seats, but within seconds, Caroline is waving to Sonny from off to the side of the stage and waving him over to come backstage.

Sonny finds it a little odd, but because it's Grandma Caroline, he decides to get up, which doesn't go unnoticed by Leo, who quickly gets up to follow.

Once Sonny reaches the stage door and walks through, he looks for Caroline, but finds himself walking through a cluster of ballet dancers instead.

But then, once he actually makes it backstage, he finds Will, dressed a checkered shirt reminiscent of the Harlequin.

Will, upon seeing Sonny for the first time since being fired, knows better than to say anything besides, "Congratulations on your engagement."

Sonny doesn't hesitate, just walks over to Will as he begs, "No, wait, Will, please. You have to believe me when I say it's not like that at all."

Of course that's right when Leo shows up, all about trying to pull Sonny away,

"Jackson! Finally found you!"

But once he sees Will, as well as Sonny looking at Will, Leo pretends to be civil, "Will. You look very... adorable. And let me just say from the bottom of my heart how sorry I am for whatever happened between us, because I'd love nothing more for you to keep working with me. You really are talented."

Will, however, isn't interested in being civil. Not anymore.

"Just stop already. I just wish I'd quit before you fired me."

That's news to Sonny, after a long night of revelations, "You fired him?"

Leo tries to cover, "No, I did not fire him. It was my understanding that you quit because you wanted to go back to your roots in the theater."

But where that might've been enough to keep Will in check before, this time it doesn't even come close, as Will tells him off,

"Mr. Stark, I honestly believed working for you was the job beyond my wildest dreams. You made me believe that all I needed was to be a successful interior designer, and I got so caught up in your high end life. But now I now better, now that I've seen the type of person you really are."

Neither Sonny or Leo say anything, as Will goes on,

"So you can go right ahead with your petty threats. If I do spend the rest of my life designing community theater, that will be the job beyond my wildest dreams."

Then he turns towards Sonny, looking him right in the eyes,

"And you. You chose him. You actually believed he could come up with those designs."

Sonny winces, knowing he deserves every bit of hurt Will is throwing at him, as he listens to every single word,

"Sonny, I've always been right here. And if that kiss in the elevator meant anywhere as much as what it did to me, you would've known that from the beginning."

Sonny's dying to say something, anything, but what Will says next throws that option out the window,

"You're not the man I fell in love with. You two really are the perfect couple."

Then Will walks away with his head held high, knowing now he'll be okay going forward, and he didn't need Sonny to tell him that either.

Sonny, however, can't just let Will walk away, not when he could possibly lose him for good.

"Will. Will!" He calls, attempting to follow, only to be stopped by Leo again.

"Just let him go, and we'll just go back to our seats, and go back to enjoying our night."

But what neither of them see is Grandma Caroline pulling a rope to lower a heavy Nutcracker prop onto the stage right behind them, so when Leo turns to go, he bumps right into it, knocking him down.

Which turns out to be the final push Sonny needs, as he squats down to Leo's level and reaches for Leo's left hand, and promptly pulls the ring off.

"I don't think it's just the style that's not working, Leo.", is all Sonny says, before pocketing the ring and leaving Leo lying there, praying he's not too late to make things right with the man he's fallen in love with.


	24. Mirror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And I'll tell you, baby, it was easy  
Coming back into you once I figured it out  
You were right here all along

The elevator finally opens, and Will gets on, tears running down his face faster than he can wipe them away.

But fate must have other plans, because right as the elevator doors close all the way, they open again, and Sonny's getting on with him.

Neither of them say anything, but Sonny pulls out a handkerchiefs and offers it to Will, who takes it gratefully before handing it back.

Which is all the prompting Sonny needs to try and apologise,

"Okay, so I didn't connect the dots when they were staring me right in the face. But let me tell you something: when I got to catch you when you fell out of the carriage, I was on cloud nine. Same as when we first kissed in the elevator."

Will's heart soars hearing that, but Sonny keeps talking,

"So I just have one question for you. Is there any way you can find it in your heart to forgive me for being such an idiot?"

Will almost wants to scream yes, but plays it cool, "I'll take it into consideration."

Sonny knows he shouldn't push, not when Will has every right to never want to talk to him again. But he has to know,

"Were you telling the truth? About falling in love with me?"

Now that Sonny knows everything, Will sees no point in lying, so he answers honestly, "Yes, I was."

The answer is enough to put a huge smile on Sonny's face, bigger than Will's ever seen, as Sonny turns to face him as he says,

"All it took was a falling elevator and an incredibly gorgeous man to bring the true meaning of Christmas back into my life. And I even managed fall in love too."

But what neither of them see is Neil and Grandma Caroline taking the elevator's keys to make the elevator stop, and it only takes a few seconds before Will and Sonny feel the jolt.

Will stumbles into Sonny's arms upon losing his balance, feeling an extreme case of deja vu as they both laugh at the irony of winding up right where they started.

But then the moment for humor is over, and they're kissing.

If their first kiss was one to remember when they're old and dying, this was one to sear into their memories well into the afterlife, nay, into their reincarnated souls.

Because Will was right. He's always been right here, all this time, and Sonny now knows he can never let him slip away from him again. And he'll do whatever it takes to prove it to the whole world, the universe, if he has to.

But perhaps they can start with Chad, who upon seeing them days later, says excitedly,

"You know, Common Grounds offers an amazing espresso chocolate wedding cake for loyal customers."

**Author's Note:**

> Comments comments comments!


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